Last week we were on the eastern coast of Iceland, lamenting the cold. A lot can happen in a week. Aside from a snow storm that whipped its way through New York, this week also ushered in hopes of spring being just around the corner. Three simple words have done that: pitchers and catchers. For those needing further explanation, the first major leaguers are heading to Florida and Arizona to jump start another baseball season. The smell of hot dogs and peanuts can’t be far behind. While I wait beside a snow bank, I’ve been thinking about the landscape of New York baseball. Aside from the prospects on the field for my beloved Mets, both they and the Yankees are impacting the land use world. Both teams are in the middle of constructing new stadiums to house their games and fans.
Over in Queens, the Mets are building their new structure in the parking lot of their current home, Shea Stadium. Slated to open in 2009, and called Citi Field, the new edifice will replicate Ebbets Field, the old home of the Brooklyn Dodgers, supplemented with the modern bells and whistles required by any modern-day sporting venue. Likewise, across the river in the Bronx, the Yankees have broken ground on New Yankee Stadium, which will also be completed in 2009. After years of wrangling with government officials, mostly over ways to finance the new enterprises, the Mets and Yankees have each committed the money to build the projects. The Yankees did secure some public financing, to construct public facilities around the park. But by and large, the applicable governments were able to repel the urge to contribute directly to constructing these new sports stadiums. The matter has been addressed in various outlets over the past twenty years, with many commentators and researchers concluding that government should not be in the stadium building business. Putting that over worn debate aside, these two examples also demonstrate that structures supporting sports teams are very much like any other proposed, large project with significant impacts on a neighborhood. The same calculation of costs and benefits must be balanced to achieve a satisfactory, albeit never perfect, result.
Not too long ago I found myself at the local Barnes & Noble, perusing a book about the origins of place names in Brooklyn. On one of its neighborhood maps, the book revealed the site of the original Ebbets Field. Not more than a mile or two away from my home, the classic baseball setting has since been replaced with affordable housing towers. Sure, this all happened back in the ‘50’s, but there are plenty of Brooklyn denizens who still haven’t gotten over it. Added to annals of New York baseball, the prior home of the Dodgers before Ebbets Field, Washington Park, used to be located practically around the corner from my home. The only vestige that remains is a wall from an old horse carriage shed that serviced the park. Con Edison, the electrical outfit, owns the site today. A pending city Landmarks Preservation Commission review will determine the wall’s fate. But nonetheless, being so close to hallowed ground, where Ty Cobb and Cy Young once played, only raises the significance of the neighborhood during a week such as this.
Aside from the ghosts of former Hall of Fame players haunting my neighborhood, the curse of former Mets has also infiltrated the world of land use. Mo Vaughn, who came to the Mets providing hopes of solid production for seasons to come, promptly broke down in a little over a season in 2003. But today, he remains planted in New York, running a development company that refurbishes affordable housing complexes. It seems land use and baseball are intimately intertwined, at all levels and in every nook and cranny. This should not come as any great surprise, however. The game itself relies on matters of a little white ball’s place in space. A ball or strike turns on its location, as does a foul or fair ball – just as critical as the location of a new development. Maybe that’s why I still hold onto my love for a game I haven’t played since Little League, because I can wrap it inside the interests that carry me through as an adult. Or maybe it’s just because I really have a yearning for a bag of ballpark peanuts.
No comments:
Post a Comment